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Transcript of Water Summer08
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In This IssueESRI Summer 2008 GIS for Water/Wastewater
continued on page 10
Dublin San Ramon Services District Moves toArcGIS Server
p2
Building an Enterprise GIS at ProvidenceWater Supply Board
p4
Norfolks Department of Utilities Leveragesthe Enterprise Geodatabase to Improve
Access and Accuracy
p7
ESRI Partner CornerBaker
p14
water writesNATIO
The Metro Wastewater Reclamation District
is the primary wastewater treatment agency
or metropolitan Denver, Colorado. The Metro
District operates a noncombined interceptor
system that collects sewage rom 45 member
municipalities and special connectors spread
across 620 square miles and our major drainage
Denvers Metro WastewaterReclamation District DevelopsCustom Asset ManagementWeb Application Using ArcGIS Server
Jim Dillon, GIS Administrator, Metro Wastewater Reclamation District
David Knight, Senior Systems Analyst/Project Manager, CDM
basins. The Metro Distr ict operates a wholesale
sewage treatment service to our members, who
in turn provide retail service to approximately
1.5 million people. Most o the ow is gravity
ed to the Robert W. Hite Treatment Facility
(RWHTF), located along the South Platte River
in north Denver. When the acility was frst
built in 1966, the Metro Districts reach consist-
ed o 50 miles o interceptor sewers. As needs
have increased over the years, the district has
expanded to include 260 miles o interceptors.
On an average day, the plant returns approxi-
mately 130 million gallons o treated water to
the South Platte River. Its 185-million-gallons-per-day capacity makes it the largest waste-
water treatment plant between the Mississippi
River and the West Coast. The Metro District
is currently developing an aggressive 10-year
plan to expand and re urbish our in rastructure
to handle increasing demand or capacity and
changes in its Discharge Monitoring Permit.
Over the years, several in ormation systems
have been developed and implemented to man-
age an increasingly complex in rastructure.
These systems have included applications tohandle asset management, warranty tracking,
work order generation, project management,
and other daily operational tasks. Prior to the
Metro Districts geographic in ormation system
(GIS) project, an asset management reporting
application was developed in-house to track
interceptor in rastructure in ormation and sup-
port feld operations such as line cleanings and
TV inspections. This application, called theThe online application o ers tools or generating a report such as this manhole sur ace inspection.
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With a need or an out-o -the-box, Web-based
GIS solution that can be easily updated and
modifed while requiring minimal code writing,
Dublin San Ramon Services District (DSRSD)
has made the move to ArcGIS Server. We now
have a product that will allow our GIS sta to
have more control o the look, eel, and unc-
tionality o the online GIS Web application.
Depending on the level o expertise, GIS
sta is able to create Web applications, pub-
lish services, and manage the server through
ArcCatalog or the Web-based Manager in-
ter ace or take the application a step urther.
ESRI has made it easy to utilize the abilities o
Microso t Visual Studio. With ArcGIS Server,
publishing data has never been easier. Being
able to quickly create a service rom .mxd fles
is extremely help ul. Having the option to use
the symbology built into the desktop GIS and
then serve that same map over the Web while
maintaining the stylization is not only e fcient
but also very important. As new data services
Dublin San Ramon Services District Moves to ArcGIS Server Aaron Johnson, Senior Engineering Technician/GIS Specialist, Dublin San Ramon Services District
requests.
Realizing that not all end us-
ers are amiliar with Web-based
mapping systems and common
images depicting basic tools
such as Zoom or Pan, GIS sta
has been able to change the look
o the Web site to make it easier
to navigate with minimal e ort.
Using ArcScripts and tips rom
the ArcGIS Server Development
Online GIS tools give users the tools they need such as this magnifer or clear viewing.
ArcGIS Server o ers intuitive tools that make the companys IT administration design tools easy or employees to use. The above drop-down list is customized or the job.
Blog, the sta has added custom tools and
tasks to give the user increased unctionality.
Some o the customization that has been done
is simple yet e ective. From the ArcGIS Server
become available, there is little e ort required
to get custom search or query tasks set up to go
along with them. This would previously have
required additional sta time or even support
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Google Map will give users the option to search
or businesses or locations outside the existing
in ormation our GIS data can provide.
With the ability to publish data as a service,
in combination with the geore erencing tools
o ArcGIS Desktop, we can publish geore er-
enced, scanned drawings o our treatment acil-
Development Blog, we were able to utilize a
tip to get hyperlinks added to the results table
a ter a eature select. These hyperlinks now al-
low us to have scanned, as-built drawings at-
tached to the acilities, such as a reservoir or
pump station, or quick access by feld crews.
This has not been available until now. Also
rom the ArcGIS Server Development Blog, a
Highlight Feature task has been added so users
can quickly see a street location with minimal
mouse clicks.
Other customization includes a Print task add-
ed to the task menu. From the ArcScripts site,
sta was able to include a custom eature select
tool, allowing access to in ormation on only the
specifc layer the user needs. Both o the above-
mentioned tasks were added to the Manager
task menu, which allows them to be easily in-
cluded in uture Web applications. An embed-
ded Google Map was also added to the Web ap-
plication. Because DSRSD is a utility services
district, access to data is sometimes limited. The
ities over aerial imagery. This will help provide
sta with a quick look at what development has
occurred at a specifc location without having
to go through the plan library. The same pub-
lishing o as-built in ormation over the intranet
can also be used in the distribution or collec-
tion system.
Map shows potable reservoirs.
On the menu, the print task aids ast publication.
Data rom many resources can be added to the projectsuch as this Google Map.
Geore erenced scanned drawings canbe included in the GIS database andserved to clients.
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Providence Water Supply Board (PW),
Providence, Rhode Island, serves water to
approximately 600,000 people and provides
wholesale water to nine other systems. Its ser-
vice territory covers the cities o Providence
and Cranston as well as the towns o Johnston
and North Providence. In these our communi-
ties, PW has a large number o assets, such as
distribution reservoirs (5), pump stations (10),
water mains (more than 900 miles), hydrants
(more than 5,700), meters, and service connec-
tions (approximately 72,000), through which it
provides potable water and fre protection to its
customers.
For years, PW considered the benefts that
would ollow the implementation o a GIS
Building an Enterprise GIS at Providence Water Supply BoardChris Labossiere, Project Manager, Providence Water Supply Board Skip Heise, Regional Business Manager, EMA, Inc.
Brian Schrantz, Project Manager, EMA, Inc.
within its organization. During early 2003, PW
conducted a needs assessment to discover ar-
eas where GIS data and technology would be
benefcial to improving the organizations dai ly
operations. During the assessment, PW learned
that many groups within the organization had
di fculty accessing su fcient and accurate
documentation about the water in rastruc-
ture assets in a timely manner. The Records
Management section o the engineering depar t-
ment is responsible or the management and
maintenance o the organizations asset records,
and the transmission and distribution (T&D)
department requires these records to support
its daily work activities to maintain and oper-
ate the water system. Requests rom T&D come
into the records management group to be ul-
flled, which takes time away rom maintaining
the records. The records were maintained as
distribution maps in paper, images, and CAD
ormat. There was no seamless representation
o the water system in GIS. In 2005, PW began
a signifcant initiative to design and develop an
enterprise GIS to enable better access to and
management o its existing records.
Goals and Vision
PWs vision was to use GIS to manage the geo-
graphic location o the water distribution sys-
tem assets in a graphic environment that links
to tabular in ormation regarding the asset attri-
butes and work per ormed on the assets. The in-
Figure 1. GIS supports the Water Supply Boards business processes by integrating with core IT databases and so tware to deliver applications rom automated mappingto valve isolation.
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ormation is maintained in its Hansen work and
asset management system. In addition, both the
GIS and asset management system will link to
common and related in ormation maintained in
the Customer Star (CSTAR) customer in orma-
tion and billing system. The integration o GIS
with Hansen and CSTAR will provide a single
common asset and customer in ormation reg-
istry or PW. When combined with ormalized
processes or maintaining the data and technol-
ogy or deploying the in ormation, e fciencies
will be gained by providing access to accurate
and up-to-date in ormation required to support
the organizations business practices.
The Design
With assistance rom EMA, Inc. (www.ema-
inc.com), PW developed an enterprise GIS de-
sign based on a core set o business processes
to be supported by the technology. Figure 1 is a
diagram showing the business-dr iven approach
used or enterprise GIS design.
EMA acilitated a number o workshops with
PW sta to ully document both as-is and to-be
business processes related to the GIS. This ex-
ercise pointed toward a number o capabilities
that could be provided through the GIS to sup-
port the organizations business needs. These
capabilities were urther described in terms o
applications that could be implemented based
on core so tware technology rom ESRI and
other business partners. Figure 2 shows the
technology architecture or the enterprise GIS.
Geodatabase
At the center o the enterprise GIS is the water
geodatabase. The geodatabase was designed to
integrate with PWs existing Hansen asset and
work order management system. GIS eature
classes were determined based on the asset
classes in Hansen, and common attributes were
aligned. Populating the new geodatabase with
data rom various sources, including AutoCAD
fles, paper maps, and Hansen, would be a ma-
jor part o the project. The James W. Sewall
Company per ormed data conversion and re-
lated QA/QC activities to ensure the new sys-
tem would be built on a oundation o accurate
data.
Initial Application Rollout
Applications were prioritized based on their
importance or maintaining the spatial databas-
es as well as delivering value to the end users.
PW realized that end-user applications would
not be o much value i the underlying data was
not properly maintained. This placed emphasis
on establishing data maintenance and synchro-
nization tools so that PW sta could actively
maintain the water geodatabase as it was be-
ing created by Sewall. Since the geodatabase
must integrate with the Hansen asset and work
order management system, o -the-shel solu-
tions called GeoResults Sync and GeoResults
Toolbox rom Marshall GIS were implemented.
The GeoResults tools are specifcally designed
to work with ArcGIS and Hansen to keep the
two databases in sync.
Importance was also placed on providing the
end users with an easy and e fcient means o
accessing the enterprise GIS data. A Web-based
GIS viewer called eMap became part o the ini-
tial application deployment. This allowed PW
sta to get a taste o how they might begin to
access water in rastructure records via a Web-
based application. The applications bring in or-
mation rom GIS, Hansen, and CSTAR into a
single viewing environment. End users are just
beginning to experiment with the applications
ability to bring together Hansen work orders,
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Figure 2. Architectural design o GIS throughout the enterprise.
continued on page 6
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continued from page 5
Building an Enterprise GIS at Providence Water Supply Board
CSTAR service requests, and water in rastruc-
ture in the GIS into an easy-to-understand map
display that supports their daily work activities.
Figure 3 is a screen shot o the eMap ArcGIS
Server application.
To get end users actively involved in main-
taining the data, a Redliner tool was incorpo-
rated into the eMap application. The Redliner
tool allows users to identi y errors or changes
in the data by sketching on or marking up the
map. All end users would have access to the
Redliner and could submit redline sketches to
the GIS data editors. The editors then would
determine what changes were appropriate and
do the actual data editing. The Redliner appli-
cation takes advantage o the eyes and ears o
many users to help maintain the datasets with-
out relinquishing editing power to everyone.
Figure 4 is a screen shot o the Redliner.
Next Steps
While just beginning to enjoy some o the ben-
efts o its new GIS capability, PW considers its
next steps to expand and improve its system.
One o the ront-running projects is the de-
ployment o a mobile solution to provide crews
with system access in the feld. Other smaller
changes continue as well. As users grow more
accustomed to the new GIS system, they have
started to ask or additional unctionality. PW
recognizes that this is not a static system but
one that will continue to evolve and grow as
technology changes, users needs increase, and
other systems are integrated. User requests are
prioritized and handled as time and budget al-
low. The system, by design, is highly exible
to accommodate these needs and changes, as
it was standardized on common core technolo-
gies to ensure a long li e cycle.
The enterprise GIS system project at PW has
brought about increased unctionality and or-
ganizational evolution. With disparate critical
systems being linked and synchronized, data
accessibility and accuracy have increased. PW
is beginning to realize its vision and the associ-
ated benefts o this technology.
Figure 3. ArcGIS Serverprovides water workers witha resource or daily activities.
Figure 4. The GIS Redliner tool identifes errors or changes in the data to help ensure accuracy.
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The City o Nor olks Department o Utilitiesin Virginia has success ully deployed an en-
terprise geodatabase architecture that uses
ArcSDE technology that serves as the ounda-
tion or the continued improvement o the water
distribution and sanitary sewer in rastructure
assets. In addition, this e ort establishes di-
rect connectivity between the utility GIS and
Nor olks Hansen work order management sys-
tem, allowing the strengths o these two sys-
tems to ully complement each other.
The project started in October 2006 withthe selection o Michael Baker Jr., Inc., as the
consultant to guide the e ort and Marshall
Norfolks Department of Utilities Leverages the EnterpriseGeodatabase to Improve Access and AccuracyChad Edralin, GIS Program Manager, Department of Utilities, City of Norfolk, Virginia Nate Davis, GIS Mapping Manager, Department of Utilities, City of Norfolk, Virginia Jonathan H. Soulen, AICP, Project Manager, Michael Baker Jr., Inc.Tracy Wamsley, Task Manager, Michael Baker Jr., Inc.
Associates as the subconsultant or so tware andsupport. This initiated a care ul planning and
deployment process that has resulted in both
Baker and the city jointly digitizing the water
and sewer in rastructure to save both time and
money.
Project Background
The City o Nor olk moves millions o gallons
o water and wastewater each year through
more than 1,500 miles o pipe. The majority o
this in rastructure and plan sets are more than60 years old. Historical ly, the city used several
di erent methods or planning, managing, and
maintaining this in rastructure. Over the years,these methods resulted in a variety o both pa-
per and digital inventories that were required to
support critical business processes and analy-
ses.
Because o the ever-increasing challenges
o maintaining this in rastructure in an active
urban environment, the city determined that it
was necessary to upgrade the mapping and as-
set management system and initiate the Utility
Enterprise Geodatabase project.
Through this important project, the city isachieving several primary goals:
1. A conversion plan that re ects a variety o
di erent historical documents including
intersection drawings, as-built plan docu-
ments, shapefles o water and sewer in ra-
structure, and Hansen asset records
2. A comprehensive and complete geodata-
base design or utilities in rastructure
3. A data management plan that addresses
map updates, the citys work order man-
agement system, and data distributionacross the organization
Project Approach
The deployment o any new mapping program
The intersection drawings contain a high levelo detail that is critical to the departments feldsta . It is important to retain as much detail aspossible through attribution and annotation.
continued on page 8
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will have impacts across the entire Department
o Utilities. There ore, it was important to
consult and gather input rom all parts o the
department on their needs. Meetings and in-
terviews were conducted with a variety o di -
erent groups within the department including
Engineering, Operations, and Mapping divi-
sions. The interviews resulted in a clear direc-
tion or Baker.
It was determined that one o the top priori-
ties was to develop a utility GIS that retained
the level o detail present on the dra ted inter-
section drawings. The department did not want
to lose the rich detail available in the intersec-
tion drawings.
To accommodate such detailed in ormation,
a specialized data model had to be constructed.
The original data was placed in the existing
water and sewer database models, provided by
ESRI. Then a workshop was held with repre-
sentatives rom all groups in the department
to determine the customizations to the model
needed to create a database design that would
incorporate all the necessary attributes.
In addition, it was important to develop a
seamless work ow process that would estab-
lish and maintain a link between the new GIS
database and the Hansen asset management
system. O ten, when GIS and asset manage-
ment systems are operated independently, they
become out o sync. Given the current regula-
tory environment that municipal governments
must comply with, it is essential to be able
to track and maintain investment across all
in rastructures.
Finally, the deployment o a new mapping
system has required the implementation o new
digitizing and data maintenance techniques.
Sta training is necessary or a success ul
project but is requently given insu fcient pri-
ority or simply ignored entirely. Baker and the
department developed a training program that
would extend over a transition period o sev-
eral months. This approach allows key sta to
become accustomed to the process rather than
having to climb a steep learning curve.
Early Deliverables
Deploying an enterprise GIS presents many
challenges. Through the employment o a pro-
active approach, constraints such as data acces-
sibility and complications with the transition to
the new system can be minimized.
Providing early deliverables gives sta the
ability to amiliarize themselves with the data
while utilizing the new technology. The frst
deliverable included the existing water and
sewer dataset trans ormed into the new data-
base design. This data was loaded onto the net-
work and made available or viewing through
an intranet GIS viewer.
An important early deliverable has been the
intersection drawing points. The city main-
tained hand-drawn maps, based on a grid
system, that showed what source documents
(intersection drawings) represented the water
and sewer in rastructure at each intersection.
A number was written on the map that corre-
sponded to the drawing fle name. To enable the
sta to begin looking at the data and using the
technology to locate in ormation, Baker linked
the scanned, hand-drawn maps to a point fle
within the geodatabase. Now, intersection
drawings can be accessed via the citys GIS in-
tranet viewer.
continued from page 7
Norfolks Department of Utilities Leverages the EnterpriseGeodatabase to Improve Access and Accuracy
The citys Online GIS Viewprovides access to the citymap drawings.
Hand-drawn maps arescanned and linked toa point fle within thegeodatabase.
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Pilot
The pilot e ort began in March 2007. The de-
partment recommended a geographic area that
had experienced redevelopment over the past
several years. This ensured that the Baker team
would encounter a variety o di erent source
materials including both the older intersection
drawings and new as-built drawings.
Working closely with the department, Baker
developed annotation specifcations that rep-
licated the detail ound on the source docu-
ments as closely as possible. Using the City o
Nor olks GIS basemap, which included streets,
curb lines, parcels, and building outlines, Baker
digitized and adjusted water and sewer in ra-
structure to align with existing data layers.
Using Marshall Associates GeoResults suite
o so tware products, Baker success ully estab-
lished a link between the GIS and the Hansen
system. Combined with Bakers disciplined
digitizing procedures, Marshalls so tware au-
tomatically retires, creates, and updates assets
in Hansen to match the GIS database as it is
updated.
Baker are sharing the workload. This not only
acilitates a shorter project duration but also al-
lows the department to assume data ownership
now rather than at the end o the project.
The city maintains all o the data in an
ArcSDE environment housed on its GIS serv-
ers. Using versions to manage data, the city has
created a work ow that allows version QC and
synchronization with Hansen.
Baker accesses and updates the data through
disconnected editing. Personal geodatabases
are checked out o the citys ArcSDE and up-
dated on-site at Bakers Virginia Beach o fce.
Once the data edits are complete, the data is
delivered to the city by checking the personal
geodatabase back into the citys ArcSDE. The
data is then run through QC by city sta and
ultimately reconciled and posted to the Baker
version. The Baker version is then reconciled
against the fnal version and synchronized with
Hansen, and all edits are posted to the fnal ver-
sion. At that point, all the Baker edits are ully
integrated with the city data.
While the project is still in the frst year o
implementation, the proper oundation is now
in place or success ul completion.
Partnering to Complete the Project
One primary result o the pilot was an im-
proved understanding o the work e ort re-
quired to complete the digitizing and database
population o the citys entire water and sewer
network. Given a budget phased over three
years, it was necessary to deploy a strategy that
would allow the project to be completed within
a reasonable time rame.
With more than 1,500 miles o water and
sewer in rastructure, combined with budget
constraints, it is estimated that the project
could take more than three years to complete
using vendor labor alone.
By leveraging enterprise geodatabase unc-
tionality, the departments mapping sta and
SDE_Default
City ofNorfolk
HANSEN
City ofNorfolk
FINAL
BAKER Utilities
F17_F18
F17_F18
Check OutPersonalGeodatabase
G17_G18
G17_G18
Check OutPersonalGeodatabase
FGH_16a_Edits
FGH_16a
FGH_16a_Edits
Check OutPersonalGeodatabase
KLM_16a_Edits
KLM_16a
KLM_16a_Edits
Check OutPersonalGeodatabase
Sync GIS data with Hansen
Read OnlyIMS
IntPts
Hydrants
East Beach
BC11
Downtown
Willough I & II
The data model retains use opreexisting drawings and integratesthem into the GIS database or serveravailability.
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continued from page 1
Denvers Metro Wastewater Reclamation District DevelopsCustom Asset Management Web Application Using ArcGIS Server
Interceptor In rastructure System (IIS), was
developed using ASP.NET 1.1 (Visual Studio
2003) and Oracle Reports Server.
To operate the application, a user selects a
report query page rom a drop-down menu and
flls in the flter cr iteria to generate a report con-
taining relevant in ormation. For example, a user
may want to see the results o all manhole sur-
ace inspections on the Aurora Westside (AW)
interceptor in 2006. To get this in ormation, the
user would select the Sur ace Inspections report
under Structures in the Network drop-down
menu, set the Interceptor Abbreviation feld to
AW and the year feld to 2006, then click the
run report button. The application then parses
the flter criteria into a URL str ing that is sent to
the Oracle Reports Server. The application can
return a report in PDF, Excel, Word, or HTML
ormat. The report can also be sent directly to a
network printer or to an e-mail address.
The IIS application is supported by the
by mechanisms in the application and underly-
ing database to control editing unctions. Only
certain users have the ability to edit, update, or
delete IIS data entries. These privileges are con-
trolled by Windows Integrated Authentication
against Active Directory. Editing actions are
urther controlled by prohibiting business rule
violations such as the creation o a segment with
the same name as a currently existing segment.
This approach has worked well and resulted in
a relatively low-maintenance application that
continues to meet users needs.
In 2003, the Metro District selected a team
consisting o Camp Dresser & McKee Inc.
(CDM) and Woolpert, Inc., to per orm a GIS
needs assessment to determine how GIS tech-
nology could improve business practices. A
number o applications were identifed, and a
phased implementation approach prioritized
applications based on the most cost-e ective
solutions. Until this time, the only GIS pro-
gram available was a land-use model based on
ArcView 3.2, and the Metro District did not
have an enterprise-wide geographic in orma-
tion system in place.
The frst step was to purchase the hardware
and so tware required to implement a ounda-
tional architecture or an enterprise GIS. This
setup consists o ArcSDE, ArcGIS Server, and
several ArcIn o and ArcEditor desktop licens-
es. ArcSDE runs on Oracle 10 g R2 on a Linux
Red Hat ES 4.0 server in a storage area network
(SAN) environment, and ArcGIS Server runs
on a stand-alone Windows 2003 server.
Data acquisition was the next step. At a mini-
mum, the distr ict would need GIS layers repre-
senting manhole structures and interceptor seg-
ments, geocoded street centerlines, and up-to-
date aerial photography. The geocoded street
centerlines were purchased rom a vendor, and
the aerial photography was received through a
partnership with an aerial photography project
In ormation Services Division,
and all the in ormation it con-
tains is maintained by the
Engineering, Transmission, and
Comprehensive Planning de-
partments. A detailed set o
business rules was agreed on
by a committee o users. These
business rules are implemented
ArcGIS Server shows t ransmission status in an urban corridor. The green lineindicates a good t ransmission rating. Additional in ormation is immediately available.
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conducted by the Denver Regional Council o
Governments. To develop a geometric network
o the interceptor system, a submeter GPS sur-
vey was per ormed by Woolpert, Inc., to collect
GPS coordinates or all aboveground structures
such as manholes and metering acilities. The
survey captured more than 3,900 points and
was an excellent inventory exercise. Metro
District ound that about 100 manholes had
been paved over, buried, or otherwise lost. The
GPS survey provided a means or fnding these
types o missing structures. This data will also
help Metro District fnd missing structures in
the uture. Be ore the GPS survey, missing
structures were located with metal detectors,
divining rods, and CAD maps. Metro District
employees can now take a GPS device with
them to fnd a missing structure more quickly.
The survey also provided RWHTF with a ba-
sic model o the interceptor system. The points
rom the GPS survey became the Structures
layer. Straight lines were then drawn between
upstream and downstream structures to create a
Segments layer. Together, these two layers orm
the geometric network representing the Metro
Districts interceptor system. Due to bends in
the pipes, the connect-the-dots process does
not result in a Segments layer with a horizontal
accuracy equal to that o the Structures layer.
Most o the Metro Districts sewer lines are
modern, and curvature between structures is
limited. However, some older sections o pipe
made o brick can curve sharply between struc-
tures. A current data improvement project is
under way to correct these ew segments.
Once the necessary hardware, so tware,
and data were in place, the frst priority o the
Metro Districts GIS project was to enable the
IIS application with GIS. The ront page o the
application was redeveloped using ArcGIS 9.1
to include a dynamic map, a table o contents,
and several map tools. The map contained
the Structures, Segments, Streets, and Aerial
Photography layers, and the table o contents
allowed users to turn those layers on or o at
their discretion. The set o map tools contained
basic navigational tools, an Identi y button, an
address locator, a select eatures tool, a clear
graphics button, and a measuring tool. The
Structures and Segments layers pulled their
attributes rom materialized views exported
nightly rom the IIS database, keeping the GIS
layer in ormation current with the latest data-
base edits.
The GIS eatures on the IIS ront page were
also linked with several reports. A user could
zoom in to an area o interest, select segment
and/or structure eatures, and pass those ea-
tures to a report. A user could also use the
report pages to fnd eatures on the map. I a
manhole has been buried by a recent housing
development, a transmissions operator can plug
the name o that manhole into a structure re-
port in IIS to quickly see where that manhole
is located. A Comprehensive Planning engineer
who needs to know the condition o a stretch o
interceptor parallel to an upcoming rehabilita-
tion project can select that stretch o pipe on
the map and pass it to a segment report to re-
trieve that in ormation. This link is provided
via the unique identifer that ties the GIS layers
to the in ormation in the IIS database. When
a GIS eature is selected, that unique identifer
is stored in a session variable. When the user
navigates to a report page, that session variable
is passed to the frst flter parameter o that re-
port. In the report-to-map case, the report query
sent to the Oracle Reports Server returns a set
o those unique identifers that is then used by
fne-grained ArcObjects in a WHERE clause to
select the matching GIS eatures.
The address locator is another important
addition to the application. This stems rom a
need to review locate requests rom the Utility
Notifcation Center o Colorado (UNCC).
ArcGIS Server o ers a map representing current datalayers o structure, streets, and aerial photography. Basicmap tools help users navigate and view specifcs.
The GIS map links to several reports via an identifer thatties the GIS layers to data in the citys in ormation system.
continued on page 12
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12 water writes www.esri.com/water
continued from page 11
Denvers Metro Wastewater Reclamation District DevelopsCustom Asset Management Web Application Using ArcGIS Server
Typically, i individuals or companies need to
dig in metro Denver, they will call UNCC to
help them locate any underground utilities in
the area. UNCC will orward the request to
Metro District or urther review i the dig area
is within a certain distance o interceptors. The
in ormation clerks receive will usually be dis-
tances rom an intersection. For example, 500
t. south o 84th and York would be a typical
locate request. Exact addresses, street types,
and ZIP Codes are rare.
The Metro District receives approximately
6,000 o these locate requests every year. To
minimize the risk o an incorrect locate request
approval, we purchased one o the best geocod-
ed street centerline datasets available. This data
was loaded into the ArcSDE geodatabase, and
a geodatabase address locator was created. To
accommodate the sparse in ormation received
or the requests, the minimum candidate score
and match score parameters are set very low.
These settings orce the locator to return re-
sults or queries with limited input. The address
locator allows the clerks to quickly determine
whether a locate request is too close to the inter-
ceptors. Previously, a clerk would have to cross-
re erence an Internet address locator service
with a paper CAD drawing to evaluate a locate
request. Those minutes saved, multiplied by the
volume o locate requests, resulted in an incred-
ible e fciency gain or the Metro Distr ict.
The project that GIS-enabled the IIS applica-
tion was a success. Users were pleased with the
new GIS unctionality, and a training program
was put in place so that people un amiliar with
the technology could become com ortable with
the new tools.
In November 2006, ESRI released
ArcGIS 9.2. The decision was made to upgrade
IIS to the new version to take advantage o
the numerous improvements made to ArcGIS
Server. Client-side scr ipting had become avail-
able via AJAX-enabled ESRI Web controls,
and much o the unctionality previously avail-
able only through fne-grained ArcObjects was
now delivered in the coarse-grained ADF ob-
jects. The system responsiveness and versatil-
ity opened the door or more robust solutions.
Work on the upgrade began in February 2007,
using the Web Mapping Application sample
rom ESRI as a springboard.
Upgrading the .NET 1.1 Web application to
a .NET 2.0 Web site was the frst challenge.
Visual Studio provides a conversion tool that
completes most o the work. Whats le t a ter
the automatic conversion is cleanup: migrating
constants to the ApplicationCode directory,
changing CodeBehind to CodeFile in the
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water writes 13www.esri.com/water
model that impacted development e orts.
Much o the unctionality that had been devel-
oped in the 9.1 architecture had to be rewritten.
Although it was rustrating to see some o the
hard work become obsolete, it was also re resh-
ing to work with the improvements o the new
ADF model.
RWHTF initially experienced some per-
ormance issues in ArcGIS 9.2. For example,
the many street labels or a metropolitan area
o more than 600 square miles proved the pri-
mary culprit o slow per ormance. Map cach-
ing was used to improve the display speed o
the basemap. The development team created
a used cache with 10 zoom levels to provide
an enhanced user experience. All the unctions
worked seamlessly with the cached map, just
as they would or vector data in a noncached
service. The only exception was a code or a
zoom-to-point method, which was solved using
code provided by ESRI that steps through the
cache scale levels.
There were other challenges: There was a
lack o user orums activity, customer support
was in high demand, and some eatures were
not ully developed. To combat this, the devel-
opment team provided some innovative custom
solutions to meet the project requirements. For
example, the map printing eature actually uses
an ArcGIS Server 9.1 page layout control that
allows the user to interact with various map
items including title, callout boxes, page size,
and export type. The entire printing eature
resides as its own Web page, which accepts a
cookie with the specifc map in ormation. This
allows the print eature to be used by other Web
sites that may be developed in the uture.
Many IT project managers will agree that
managing projects that incorporate new or
cutting-edge technology can pose many chal-
lenges in budget, schedule, and quality objec-
tives. Project control was essential to meet the
Metro Districts requirements. For example,
throughout the project, our team was aced with
development e orts that were unprecedented
using ArcGIS Server 9.2. The team monitored
the e ort, and when it became apparent that the
team could not develop the solution, it logged
the issue with ESRI and moved on to another
requirement. It is important to note that the de-
velopment team embraced the technology cul-
ture by participating in the ArcGIS Server sup-
port network, which included the ESRI online
orums and developer blogs. As another control
measure, the Metro District chose to host de-
velopers on-site. This allowed the development
team to use a test-driven development method
by completing unctional, integration, and sys-
tem testing concurrently.
Testing was completed when new unctional-
ity was introduced, which was critical to ensure
the new unctionality did not disturb existing
unctionality. Most importantly, the team main-
tained a positive, roll-with-the-punches attitude
toward the challenges we aced. The end result
was the integration o GIS into IIS that has not
only met the project requirements but opened
the eyes o stakeholders and the user commu-
nity to the power o GIS as a business solution.
Developers used ArcGIS Server to provide these map tools to aid employees working with the database.
The water acilities map has 10 zoom levels topinpoint work details.
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14 water writes www.esri.com/water
Water/WastewaterUser Group Committees
NationalBeth Degironimo, Chairman, Mohawk Valley
Water Authority, NYJames Bates, Louisville Water Company, KYSteve Dewilde, Orange County Sanitation
District, CAKathryn Browning, Municipality o
Anchorage, AK
Jon Henderson, City o Bozeman, MTKent Lage, Johnson County, KSJoe McEachern, Boston Water and Sewer
Board, MAPhil Oswalt, Montgomery Water Works and
Sanitary Sewer Board, ALBarbara Quinn, Cincinnati Area GIS, OHDeborah Viera, Dade Water and Sewer
Department, Miami, FL
Partner CouncilBryan Dickerson, Woolpert LLPTony Green, AdvanticaBrian Haslam, AztecaAlan Hooper, CDMSteve Line, ICOMMMBo Nielsen, DHI
Michael Samuel, Nobel SystemsCli Tompkins, Fuse orward
InternationalJim Carlson-Jones, Chairman, South Australia
Water CompanyAdam Chadwick, City o Kamloops,
BC, CanadaKrystyna Jastal, Boytom Communal Enterprise
Co. Ltd, PolandPatrick Vercruyssen, PIDPA, Antwerpen,
BelgiumCurran Weilbacher, Pohnpei Utilities Corp.
ArizonaTerry Dorschied, Chairman, Water Services
Department, City o Phoenix
Vincent Boccieri, Salt River ProjectRobert Czaja, Tucson WaterDavid Hatchner, City o FlagstaMark Ledbetter, City o ScottsdaleDianne Lynas, Arizona Department o
Water Resources
Cali orniaMike Hoolihan, Chairman, Irvine Ranch
Water DistrictMike Brown, Las Virgenes Municipal
Water DistrictAlbert Lin, Long Beach Water DepartmentNathan Look, LADWPJames Ollerton, Elsinore Valley Municipal
Water DistrictNadeem Shaukat, City & County o
San Francisco
Cali ornia Partner CouncilRaymond Brown, LSA Associates Inc.Ali Diba, DCSEYazdan Emrani, Advanced In rastructure
Management, Inc.Erick Heath, MWH So tDon Rhodes, iWater Inc.Chris Stern, Trimble
NortheastPeter J. Cutrone, Chairman, Portland
Water District, MEJe Amero, City o Cambridge, MA
ESRI Partner Corner
Michael Baker Jr., Inc., is a diversifed con-
sulting frm with more than 4,400 employees
worldwide and more than 60 years o experi-
ence in the mapping sciences. It possesses
one o the largest mapping and GIS practices
in the United States, with nationwide delivery
o services through its regionally dispersed
o fces. Baker provides its wide range o high
technology mapping and geographic in orma-
tion system services to ederal, state, and lo-
cal government agencies; public and private
utilities; and commercial sector customers. Its
customers have grown accustomed to its st rong
project managers providing leadership or com-
plex tasks while addressing the specifc needs
associated with each unique mapping and GIS
project. Following is a sampling o its compre-
hensive service o erings or water, wastewater,
and storm water providers.
Needs Assessment and
Implementation Plannin g
Todays progressive utilities must link the de-
ployment o enterprise mapping and asset man-
agement with proper implementation planning.
The days o isolated databases and applications
BakerWater/Wastewater/Storm Water
are over. Baker understands the necessity o
leveraging the needs assessment process to os-
ter communication and cooperation to achieve
organization goals. Through sta interviews
and a strategic approach to workshops, a clear
vision is established that cuts across all organi-
zational structures.
Utilities Data Development
Baker provides the ull range o utility- ocused
data services. Data development is an essential
element in creating a GIS that meets the needs
o users. In ormation derived rom source
documentation, such as as-built plans, intersec-
tion drawings, hydrant databases, legacy digital
fles, and supporting database systems, must
contribute to the fnal data product. Several
layers o quality control processes ensure that
data meets and/or exceeds industry standards.
Quality checks include feld-based observation
and GPS testing or spatial accuracy.
Work Order Management Integration
Its experience, coupled with a thorough un-
derstanding o in rastructure management
procedures and their challenges, allows Baker
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water writes 15www.esri.com/water
Northeast (continued)Barbara MacFarland, The Metropolitan District
(MDC), CTGilbert Osei-Kwadwo, Fair ax County
Wastewater Management, VANancy Pullen, Boston Water and Sewer, MASigi Sharp, Washington Suburban Sanitary
District, DCDave Ward, Loudoun County, VA
Northeast Partner CouncilJim Schoenberg, Dig Smart, NY
Mid-AmericaBecky McKinley, Chairman, Hammond
Sanitary District, INWill Allender, Colorado Springs Utilities, COBruce Butler, Butler County, OHJe rey Duke, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer
District, OHJudy Holtvogt, Montgomery County, OHDavid Kreneck, City o Fountain, CODavid Ra enberg, City o Cincinnati Water
Works, OHEd Weaver, Tarrant Regional Water District, TX
Mid-America Partner CouncilJerry Mohnhaupt, Destiny Resources, Inc., CONicole Schmidt, GBA Master Series, MOTim Sheehan, EH Wachs Company, ILSasa Tomic, Walling ord So tware, TX
Pacifc NorthwestGeo Chew, Chairman, City o Portland Water
Department, ORDale Bertelson, Clean Water Services, ORPete Brandstetter, City o Albany, ORNora Curtis, Clean Water Services, ORIan Von Essen, Spokane County, WA
Pacifc Northwest Partner CouncilElizabeth Marshall, Marshall, WA
SoutheastJames Carter, Chairman, Metro Water
Services, TNRon Hawkins, Orlando Utilities Commission, FLLesley Roddam, Walt Disney World
Corporation, RCES, FLJoel Watson, Spartanburg Water System, SCVictoria Wing, Columbia County, GA
Southeast Partner CouncilMichah Callough, ARCADIS, SCDale Dunham, Geographic In ormation
Services, ALMichael Gilbrook, HDR, FLAndy Moore, CH2M HILL, ALMark Nelson, Jones Edmunds & Associates,
Inc., FL
AWWA LiaisonEd Baruth, American Water Works
Association, CO
WEF LiaisonJack Benson, Water Environment
Federation, VA
to develop an e ectively implemented utility
asset management system. Todays tough regu-
latory environment requires strict accounting
o system maintenance and annual investment
strategies. Regardless o any computerized
maintenance management system (CMMS) or
work order so tware, Bakers ocus is to de-
velop GIS programs that integrate seamlessly
with any asset management database. Creating
a one-to-one match between the GIS and water/
wastewater asset data adds real value to asset
management productivity.
Mobile Work Force Planning
Work orces are mobile. They must fnd and
repair in rastructure in the feld, sometimes
under the most di fcult circumstances. They
complete work orders and track maintenance
activities. To be e ective, the maps, data, and
applications that they use need to be mobile.
Baker designs enterprise utility GIS architec-
ture that supports the mobile work orce. Its
GeoLink feld GPS/GIS solution is deployed or
feld collection, verifcation, and inspection o
assets to provide real-time in ormation on their
condition and status.
Application Development
Bakers so tware developers understand busi-
ness as well as so tware applications, networks,
and computers. Its skilled team o so tware pro-
essionals is backed by world-class engineers
and scientists, providing an integrated team
that doesnt just speak in bits and bytes but in
the language o any business. Bakers goal is to
streamline the trans er o in ormation to allow
clients sta s to make well-in ormed decisions.
Michael Baker Jr., Inc.4431 North Front Street, Second FloorHarrisburg, PA 17110Tel.: 717-221-2031Fax: 717-234-7611Web: www.mbakercorp.com/gisE-mail: [email protected]
Data in the municipaldatabase, the water utilitydatabase, and otherdatabases is visualizedthrough GIS to aid assetmanagement.
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E S R I
3 8 0 N e w Y o r k S t r e e t R e d l a n d s , C A 9 2 3 7 3 - 8 1 0 0
Pd S t a n d a r d
U . S . P o s t a g e P a i d
E S R I
Copyright 2008 ESRI. All rights reserved. ESRI, the ESRI globe logo, ArcGIS, ArcIn o, ArcView, ArcMap, ArcScripts, ADF,ArcEditor, ArcSDE, ArcObjects, ArcCatalog, @esri.com, and www.esri.com are trademarks, registered trademarks, or servicemarks o ESRI in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and productsmentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks o their respective trademark owners.
111520IMPCT 56.1M 9/08tk
Water Writes is a publication othe Water/Wastewater Group o ESRI.
To contact the ESRI Desktop Order Center,call1-800-447-9778within the United Statesor909-793-2853, ext. 1-1235,outside the United States.
Visit the ESRI Web site at www.esri.com .
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Send inquiries toLori Armstrong, Water/WastewaterIndustry Solutions [email protected]